Horse racing is a competitive equestrian sport involving horses ridden by jockeys over set distances, often on flat tracks or over obstacles. It is characterized by a variety of race types, including thoroughbred, harness, and steeplechase, each with distinct rules and traditions. The sport emphasizes speed, stamina, and strategy, with races typically categorized by distance, surface type, and horse age or breed. Horse racing plays a significant role in the equine industry, influencing breeding, training, and veterinary care practices. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the physiological demands, training methodologies, and health considerations associated with horse racing.
Fazio E, Lindner A, Cravana C, Wegener J, Medica P, Hart-Mann U, Ferlazzo A.This study examined how a standard exercise test (SET) affected (1) thyroid hormones (THs) of horses and (2) the relationship between the V of horses and TH responses to the exercise in trained Standardbred racehorses (V is the velocity run at defined conditions at which a blood lactate concentration of 4 mmol/L is determined). Twelve trained Standardbred racehorses (six stallions and six mares) performed SETs until the horses' blood lactate concentration was at or above 4 mmol/L. The horses were divided into three age groups (2, 3, and 4 years old); each group consists of 4 horses respectivel...
Tavanaeimanesh H, Dashli-Boroon OJ, Corley K.Understanding the physiological and biochemical changes in racehorses can be invaluable. Accurate information in this area could result in better understanding of needs of sport horses. The aim of this study was to prove the hypothesis that biochemical changes could influence the outcome of competitions. In this study, β-endorphin was evaluated as an indicator of analgesia, lactate as an indicator of fatigue and cortisol as an indicator of stress in the first two horses and the last ones that cross the finish line. This study was performed on 44 horses participating in the 1000-meter national...
Rossi R, Lo Feudo CM, Zucca E, Vizzarri F, Corino C, Ferrucci F.In athletic horses, prolonged and intense training gives rise to an imbalance between the production of free radicals and antioxidant molecules, leading to oxidative stress. Considering the relation between exercise and oxidative stress in horses, the present work aims to validate the Kit Radicaux Libres (KRL) test as a tool to verify the influence of taming, training and racing on the total blood antioxidant activity and some haematochemical parameters. Five Italian Standardbred racehorses (two males and three females, aged 12 ± 1 months) from the same training center were selected and monit...
Takeyama T, Sasaki N.Thoracic spinous process osseous changes in horses occur due to riding-induced back compression. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between the findings of thoracic spinous process osseous changes on radiographic imaging and conformation based on the difference in over-riding of the dorsal spinous processes in racing horses. This study included 55 sports horses. The hardness of the back muscles (the multifidus, longissimi, and latissimi collectively) was measured, and the horses were divided into two groups: low muscle hardness (n = 16) and high muscle hardness (n = 39). We conf...
Nath LC, Forbes G, Elliott AD, Tomren V, Ryan A, Franklin SH.AliveCor is a smartphone electrocardiography device (iECG) providing automated heart rate (HR) and rhythm determination. Atrial fibrillation (AF) in horses often is paroxysmal and rapid ECG acquisition is needed for diagnostic confirmation. iECGs were collected post-race from 15 horses with AF and 64 horses in sinus rhythm (SR). Results of manual assessment were compared to 3 commercial algorithms for HR and rhythm. Agreement between manually derived HR (HRM ) and HR derived by the AliveECG Vet (HRVET ) and Kardia version-1 (KV1 HR) and Kardia advanced (KADV HR) algorithms was quantified by th...
Jaafar SE, Al-Bayti AAH, Abdullah SI.High-power laser therapy has been used as a treatment to cure sports injuries; however, there are no controlled standardized studies on its efficacy. Moreover, high-power laser therapy has been applied for the sport horses field. This study aimed to investigate whether high-power laser therapy can cure tendon disorders and reduce the pain in tendon lesions in injured horses and also to examine the effect of laser therapy on injured horses. This retroactive experiential clinical research was performed on50 racing horses between 5 and 15 years old. They were diagnosed with neither superficial di...
Journal of biomechanicsNovember 27, 2021
Volume 130 110888 doi: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2021.110888
Shaffer SK, Shelly K, Garcia TC, Samol MA, Hill AE, Fyhrie DP, Stover SM.Proximal sesamoid bone (PSB) fractures in racehorses are likely fatigue fractures that occur due to repetitive loads and stress remodeling. The loading circumstances that may induce damage in the PSBs are not well understood. The goal of this study was to determine in three-dimensions, PSB motions relative to the opposing metacarpal condyle during simulated mid-stance loads. Seven equine cadaveric forelimbs were axially loaded in a material testing system to simulate standing and mid-stance walk, trot, and gallop load conditions (1.8-10.5 kN). Joint angles were determined by tracking the posit...
Kuroda T, Minamijima Y, Nomura M, Yamashita S, Yamada M, Nagata S, Mita H, Tamura N, Fukuda K, Kuwano A, Kusano K, Toutain PL, Sato F.For medication control in several jurisdictions, withdrawal time is the period of refrain from racing after drug administration. It is set by adding a safety period to an experimental detection time. However, there are no reports of statistical analyses of detection time for the determination of withdrawal time in flunixin meglumine-treated horses. Objective: To analyse the population pharmacokinetics of flunixin in horses through the generation of a dataset for detection time statistical analysis and predictions via Monte Carlo simulation. Methods: Experimental study. Methods: Drug plasma and...
Dahlgren AR, Knych HK, Arthur RM, Durbin-Johnson BP, Finno CJ.Recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) is a well-known performance enhancing drug in human athletes, and there is anecdotal evidence of it being used in horse racing for the same purpose. rHuEPO, like endogenous EPO, increases arterial oxygen content and thus aerobic power. Micro-doping, or injecting smaller doses over a longer period of time, has become an important concern in both human and equine athletics since it is more difficult to detect. Horses offer an additional challenge of a contractile spleen, thus large changes in the red blood cell mass occur naturally. To address the challe...
Mizobe F, Takahashi Y, Kusano K.Jockey safety is an important subject from a welfare perspective and public perception. This is the first retrospective case-control study that aims to identify risk factors associated with jockey falls (JF) in Thoroughbred jump races held by the Japan Racing Association (JRA). JF in 17,459 maiden-class race starts at eight racecourses from 2003 to 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. Data were extracted from a database and official accident reports maintained by the JRA. Thirteen possible risk factors were evaluated using multivariable logistic regression to identify those that were significan...
Delcourt V, Garcia P, Pottier I, Mansoibou N, Bache N, Glavieux Y, Chabot B, Perot I, André F, Loup B, Barnabé A, Popot MA, Bailly-Chouriberry L.Synthetic androgenic anabolic steroids (AAS) are banned compounds and considered as major threats by both racing and sports international authorities. Hence, doping control laboratories are continually looking into analytical improvements to increase their detection capabilities, notably by means of emerging technologies. To enhance analytical performances for the detection of synthetic AAS such as stanozolol, specific chromatographic procedures have been developed using recent quaternary liquid chromatography technology originally designed for high-throughput standardized proteomics connected...
Kwak YB, Yu J, Im EJ, Jeong BS, Yoo HH.Cobalt is a substance that has been abused for athletic performance enhancement and has thus been prohibited by human and animal sports doping control authorities. However, because cobalt is present in humans and animals as a trace element, a certain level of cobalt is naturally present in their excretions. In the racing industry, cobalt is a controlled substance with a threshold concentration specified by the International Agreement on Breeding, Racing and Wagering (IABRW) for international harmonization. Due to environmental and feed consumption differences among countries, regional cobalt c...
Bailey E, Petersen JL, Kalbfleisch TS.Thoroughbred horses have been selected for racing performance for more than 400 years. Despite continued selection, race times have not improved significantly during the past 60 years, raising the question of whether genetic variation for racing performance still exists. Studies using phenotypes such as race time, money earned, and handicapping, however, demonstrate that there is extensive variation within these traits and that they are heritable. Even so, these are poor measures of racing success since Thoroughbreds race at different ages and distances and on different types of tracks, and so...
Flick M, Vinther AML, Jacobsen S, Berg LC, Gimeno M, Verwilghen D, Howden W, Averay K, van Galen G.Serum neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (sNGAL) is a marker of renal injury, and its concentrations are affected by inflammation. Therefore, it could serve as a useful biomarker of disease or fitness in high-level competition. However, it has not yet been determined if sNGAL concentrations are affected by exercise. The aim of this study was to determine whether concentrations of equine sNGAL were affected by 1000 m galloping as the form of exercise used in the study. Pre- and post-gallop sNGAL, serum amyloid A, and creatinine concentrations were evaluated in 14 healthy Thoroughbred r...
Soroko M, Howell K, Dudek K, Waliczek A, Micek P, Flaga J.The aim of the study was to determine the utility of maximum eye temperature measured by infrared thermography (IRT) as a stress indicator compared with plasma cortisol concentration in Thoroughbred and Arabian racehorses. The study included thirty racehorses undergoing standard training for racing. Measurements of maximum eye temperature and blood collection for plasma cortisol concentration were carried out before training (BT), and within 5 (5AT) and 120 minutes (120AT) after the end of the each training session in three repetitions, with a monthly interval. Both parameters were elevated at...
Morrice-West AV, Hitchens PL, Walmsley EA, Wong ASM, Whitton RC.Understanding the relationship between the training practices of Thoroughbred racehorses and race performance is important to ensure advice given to trainers for injury prevention or management is practical and consistent. We assessed associations between intended volume and speed of gallop training (i.e., typical workloads for horses free of injury or other performance limiting conditions) and rest practices on official trainer career and previous season success rates (rate of wins and places, prizemoney per start). Sixty-six Australian Thoroughbred trainers were surveyed. Multivariable negat...
Broyles AH, Embertson RM, Brett Woodie J, Machado V.There is persistent concern among some trainers, owners and veterinarians regarding the effect of preoperative laryngeal function grade on the outcome of laryngoplasty and ventriculocordectomy (LPVC). Objective: To determine the effect of laryngeal function grade prior to LPVC on postoperative performance. Methods: Retrospective case-series. Methods: Medical and race records of Thoroughbred racehorses diagnosed with recurrent laryngeal neuropathy (RLN) and treated with LPVC between 1998 and 2013 were reviewed. Horses were placed into three groups based on preoperative laryngeal function grade ...
Stanley S, Deng D, Van den Berg K, Foo HC.The abuse of performance-enhancing catecholamine-based stimulants, such as levodopa, is controlled in horse racing through the application of a regulatory threshold for the common major metabolite. However, catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) enzyme inhibitors can be used to restrict the catalysis of the stimulant, and so the concurrent administration of both substances would be a viable strategy to enhance racing performance while removing the risk of exceeding the threshold. A 200 mg dose of nitecapone, a COMT inhibitor, was administered to a Thoroughbred horse, and we have analysed the bl...
de Meeûs d'Argenteuil C, Boshuizen B, Vidal Moreno de Vega C, Leybaert L, de Maré L, Goethals K, De Spiegelaere W, Oosterlinck M, Delesalle C.Training-induced follow-up of multiple muscle plasticity parameters in postural stability vs. locomotion muscles provides an integrative physiological view on shifts in the muscular metabolic machinery. It can be expected that not all muscle plasticity parameters show the same expression time profile across muscles. This knowledge is important to underpin results of metabolomic studies. Twelve non-competing Standardbred mares were subjected to standardized harness training. Muscle biopsies were taken on a non-training day before and after 8 weeks. Shifts in muscle fiber type composition and mu...
Flash ML, Crabb HK, Hitchens PL, Firestone SM, Stevenson MA, Gilkerson JR.The number of horses leaving the Australian Thoroughbred (TB) racing industry each year is of concern to animal welfare advocates, public and regulators. A horse's previous athletic performance is a significant driver of retirement from racing. Racehorse performance can be measured in terms of the total number of starts, duration of racing and prize money earned. This study investigated Australian racing records for the 2005 and 2010 Victorian TB foal crops to identify factors associated with total number of starts, racing career duration, prize money earned and age of last race start-up to th...
Physick-Sheard P, Avison A, Sears W.Ontario's Alcohol and Gaming Commission records equine racing fatalities through its Equine Health Program. The present study examined all Thoroughbred fatalities from 2003 to 2015, inclusive, to identify associations. Official records and details of fatalities were combined in multivariable logistic regression modelling of 236,386 race work-events (433 fatalities), and 459,013 workout work-events (252 fatalities). Fatality rates were 2.94/1000 race starts (all fatalities) and 1.96/1000 (breakdowns only) with an overall rate of 2.61% or 26.1 fatalities/1000 horses. Comparison with published re...
Galon EM, Macalanda AM, Garcia MM, Ibasco CJ, Garvida A, Ji S, Zafar I, Hasegawa Y, Liu M, Ybañez RH, Umemiya-Shirafuji R, Ybañez A, Claveria F....Tick-borne diseases (TBDs) considerably impair equine health and productivity. Moreover, TBDs, particularly equine piroplasmosis, impede international movement and trade of equids, which is a vital component of the global horse racing industry. In the Philippines, horse racing is a lucrative industry generating millions of USD annually. However, information on equine TBDs is scarce. This study intended to describe molecularly the equine tick-borne infections in a racehorse park in Cavite, Philippines and identify the risk factors associated with the infections. One hundred twenty-four (n = 124...
Özen D, Kaya U, Özen H, Ambarcioğlu P, Ünal N, Gürcan İS.The aim of this research was to determine the average length of a Thoroughbred horse's racing career in Turkey using survival functions of Thoroughbred horses with various characteristics. In addition, the aim was to identify risk factors that could influence the duration of a Thoroughbred horse's racing career and develop a survival model that took these factors into account. A total of 11,721 Thoroughbred horses born in 2007 and later were included in the study population. The horses involved in the study were followed for a minimum of 1 year. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to calculate the ...
Flash ML, Crabb HK, Hitchens PL, Firestone SM, Stevenson MA, Gilkerson JR.The proportion of Thoroughbred (TB) horses that commence training and eventually race, is an important industry-level indicator of how successful it is at producing horses suitable for racing. It is also of interest to the wider community and is central to the issue of whether there is overbreeding in the Australian TB industry. This study investigated the training and racing records for the 2005 and 2010 Victorian TB foal crops to determine the proportion of TBs that train and race, and the age of entering training and first race start. Subsets of the foal crop were also examined to determine...
Legg KA, Gee EK, Cochrane DJ, Rogers CW.This study aimed to examine thirteen seasons of flat racing starts ( = 388,964) in the context of an ecological system and identify metrics that describe the inherent characteristics and constraints of the New Zealand Thoroughbred racing industry. During the thirteen years examined, there was a 2-3% per year reduction in the number of races, starts and number of horses. There was a significant shift in the racing population with a greater number of fillies (aged 2-4 years) having a race start, and subsequent longer racing careers due to the inclusion of one more racing preparation post 2008 ( ...
Rumpel AS, Alievi MM, Jardim Filho JO, Rozo CAC, Schuster LAH, da Silva AV, Ferreira MP.Physical activity has been widely investigated in horses to elucidate locomotion characteristics and behavior. However, research in real environment of training stables is limited. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of training regimen on night time physical activity of racehorses. Physical activities of twenty animals were monitored during the night time using accelerometers. The animals were compared in terms of training regimen: horses subjected to training on continual days, and horses subjected to training on intermittent days; age and sex were also considered. The var...
Moeller BC, Flores L, Clifford A, Alarcio G, Mosburg M, Arthur RM.Methylphenidate is a powerful central nervous system stimulant with a high potential for abuse in horse racing. The detection of methylphenidate use is of interest to horse racing authorities for both prior to and during competition. The use of hair as an alternative sampling matrix for equine anti-doping has increased as the number of detectable compounds has expanded. Our laboratory developed a liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry method to detect the presence of methylphenidate in submitted samples. Briefly, hair was decontaminated, cut, and pulverized prior to liquid-liq...
de Clifford LT, Lowe JN, McKellar CD, McGowan C, David F.The purpose of this prospective double-blinded positive control study was to compare the efficacy of 2.5% polyacrylamide hydrogel (2.5% PAAG) in the management of middle carpal joint lameness in Thoroughbreds against treatments of triamcinolone acetonide (TA) or sodium hyaluronate (HA). A total of 31 flat-racing Thoroughbreds with lameness (grade 1-3/5) localized to the carpus by intra-articular analgesia were selected. Following a radiological assessment of the carpi confirming the absence of fragment/fracture, the horses were randomly assigned for intra-articular treatment with either 2 ml o...
Shrestha K, Gilkerson JR, Stevenson MA, Flash ML.The destinations of Thoroughbred (TB) racehorses exiting the racing industry is a high-profile issue with ethical and welfare implications of interest to both animal welfare groups and racing regulators. This cross-sectional study investigated the reasons that TBs temporarily or permanently exited racing and training in Australia in the 2017-2018 racing season and the outcomes for these horses post-racing. An online questionnaire was sent to the last registered trainers of a representative sample of 2,509 'inactive' TBs. Inactive horses were defined as those horses that were recorded as 'activ...
Cowley S, Bowman B, Lawrance M.There is increasing concern in Australia about safety in the thoroughbred racing industry, but there has been no reported analysis of injury data. This review analyses injury and workers' compensation data recorded in Victoria. On the basis of the results, it is recommended that the injury and incident data collection systems are improved such that they are not only more complete but also accumulate more detailed information about the location of an incident or injury event, the activity at the time of the incident or injury event, and factors that may have influenced the occurrence.
Boden LA, Charles JA, Slocombe RF, Sandy JR, Finnin PJ, Morton JM, Clarke AF.Racing fatalities are an important welfare concern and a source of
economic loss to racing industries. A fatality can be categorised as
sudden (a death occurring while racing/training or within minutes
of finishing) or as a euthanasia if a horse is destroyed after
incurring a catastrophic injury while racing or training.
Sudden deaths of racehorses have been attributed to
respiratory and cardiovascular disease (Platt 1982; Gelberg et al.
1985; Gunson et al. 1988; Johnson et al. 1994a,b). Respiratory
causes of sudden death include exercise-induced pulmonary
haemorrhage (EIPH) and pre-e...
Young LE.Guided M-mode echocardiography was performed in seven 2-year-old Thoroughbreds before commencement of commercial flat-race training, and 18 weeks later, when all horses were either racing regularly (5 horses), or at racing fitness (2 horses). M-mode echocardiography was performed using a 2.5 MHz annular phased array ultrasound transducer and a Vingmed 800 Supervision echocardiograph. Images were obtained from the right hemithorax; a short axis view of the left ventricle (LV) at the level of the chordae tendinae was used to position the M-mode cursor. The following variables were measured: left...
Couroucé-Malblanc A, Pronost S, Fortier G, Corde R, Rossignol F.There are a variety of reasons for poor performance in racehorses. Exercise intolerance has often been associated with subclinical respiratory abnormalities, and diagnostic aids are therefore used to enhance clinical detection. Physiological variables can also be measured in order to evaluate the metabolic reponse to exercise. This study evaluated the relationship between physiological measurements and upper airway videoendoscopy during a standardised treadmill exercise test and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cytology in control horses (good racing performance, n = 14) and poor performers (n = 2...
Kane AJ, Stover SM, Gardner IA, Bock KB, Case JT, Johnson BJ, Anderson ML, Barr BC, Daft BM, Kinde H, Larochelle D, Moore J, Mysore J, Stoltz J....To evaluate hoof size, shape, and balance as risk factors for catastrophic musculoskeletal injuries (CMI), including suspensory apparatus failure (SAF) and cannon bone condylar fracture (CDY) in Thoroughbred racehorses. Methods: 95 Thoroughbred racehorses that died between 1994 and 1996. Methods: 38 quantitative measures of hoof size, shape, and balance were obtained from orthogonal digital images of the hoof and were compared between case horses with forelimb CMI (70), SAF (43), and CDY (10) injuries and control horses whose death was unrelated to the musculoskeletal system (non-CMI, 25). Com...
Georgopoulos SP, Parkin TD.The aim of this paper is to identify risk factors associated with equine fractures in flat horse racing of Thoroughbreds in North America. Equine fractures were defined as any fracture sustained by a horse during a race. This was a cohort study that made use of all starts from the racecourses reporting injuries. The analysis was based on 2,201,152 racing starts that represent 91% of all official racing starts in the USA and Canada from 1st January 2009-31st December 2014. Approximately 3,990,000 workout starts made by the 171,523 Thoroughbreds that raced during that period were also included i...
Vallance SA, Entwistle RC, Hitchens PL, Gardner IA, Stover SM.Identification of exercise history patterns that are related to catastrophic scapular fracture will facilitate prevention of racehorse fatalities. Objective: To determine if exercise patterns are associated with scapular fracture in Thoroughbred (TB) and Quarter Horse (QH) racehorses. Methods: High-speed exercise histories for 65 TB and 26 QH racehorses that had a complete scapular fracture (cases) and 2 matched control racehorses were retrospectively studied. Exercise variables were created from lifetime race and official timed workout reports. Associations between exercise variables and scap...
Kim H, Lee T, Park W, Lee JW, Kim J, Lee BY, Ahn H, Moon S, Cho S, Do KT, Kim HS, Lee HK, Lee CK, Kong HS, Yang YM, Park J, Kim HM, Kim BC, Hwang S....The modern horse (Equus caballus) is the product of over 50 million yrs of evolution. The athletic abilities of the horse have been enhanced during the past 6000 yrs under domestication. Therefore, the horse serves as a valuable model to understand the physiology and molecular mechanisms of adaptive responses to exercise. The structure and function of skeletal muscle show remarkable plasticity to the physical and metabolic challenges following exercise. Here, we reveal an evolutionary layer of responsiveness to exercise-stress in the skeletal muscle of the racing horse. We analysed differentia...
Lindner AE.The objective of the study was to examine the validity of v(4) [velocity run under the defined conditions inducing 4 mmol/L of blood lactate concentration ([LA])] and v(200) (velocity run under the defined conditions inducing a heart rate of 200 beats/min) to differentiate performance level among Standardbred racehorses. For this purpose, 19 Standardbred trotting racehorses with differing racing time records in 2 training yards were submitted to a standardized exercise test to determine their v(4) and v(200) (6 horses of one yard only). The test consisted of 4 or more consecutive intervals dep...
Hailat NQ, Lafi SQ, al-Darraji AM, al-Ani FK.Clinical, haematological and pathological studies were undertaken in Jordan in a stud of 103 racing horses clinically suffering from babesiosis and apparently healthy animals. Out of 47 horses which participated in strenuous exercise, three mares showed sudden onset of immobility and reluctance to move and two mares died. Clinical examination revealed that these five horses (group 1) had fever, anorexia, weakness and severe icterus and, in two mares, haemoglobinuria. Haematological examination revealed that all five horses were heavily parasitized with Babesia equi. This was also found in four...
Morley PS, Bromberek JL, Saulez MN, Hinchcliff KW, Guthrie AJ.Exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage (EIPH) occurs commonly in Thoroughbred racehorses worldwide. While EIPH is believed to be an important cause of impaired performance in these horses, there is limited evidence from sufficiently powered studies to evaluate this association. Objective: To evaluate whether EIPH is associated with finishing position, distance finished behind race winners and differences in race earning among Thoroughbred horses racing in South Africa. Methods: Prospective cross-sectional study. Methods: One thousand Thoroughbred horses racing in South Africa were enrolled pri...
Hinchcliff KW, Morley PS, Jackson MA, Brown JA, Dredge AF, O'Callaghan PA, McCaffrey JP, Slocombe RF, Clarke AF.Risk factors for occult exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage (EIPH) are poorly defined or quantified. Objective: To investigate the importance of putative risk factors for EIPH amongst Thoroughbred racehorses in Australia. Methods: Tracheobronchoscopy was used to determine EIPH status of 744 Thoroughbred racehorses after flat racing in Melbourne, Australia. Horses were identified for study before racing, and over 50% of horses racing during the study period were examined. Statistical analysis included use of bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis to account for simultaneous ...
Chapman PS, Green C, Main JP, Taylor PM, Cunningham FM, Cook AJ, Marr CM.A total of 1235 tracheal aspirates taken from 724 thoroughbreds in race training, aged from two to 10 years, were examined cytologically and bacteriologically. An inflammation scoring system on a scale of 0 to 9 was devised to allow the severity of lower airway disease to be assessed from the cytological results. The inflammation scores were closely related to the isolation of bacteria (P<0.001), and the most common bacterial isolates were Streptococcus zooepidemicus, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Pasteurella/Actinobacillus-like species. Lower airway disease was less common in older horses (...
Anderson TM, McIlwraith CW, Douay P.The relationship of conformation to future potential injury is a standard approach in practise but, at present, is largely based on subjective observations. Objective: To measure conformation in 3-year-old Thoroughbreds and objectively test its relationship with the occurrence of musculoskeletal problems. Methods: Conformation measurements were taken from photographs using specific reference points marked on the horses and processed on the computer. Clinical observations were recorded for each horse on a regular basis. Stepwise (forward) logistic regression analysis was performed to investigat...
Graham R, McManus P.Changing social values and new technologies have contributed to increasing media attention and debate about the acceptable use of animals in sport. This paper focuses on the use of the whip in thoroughbred horse racing. Those who defend its use argue it is a necessary tool needed for safety, correction and encouragement, and that it does not cause the horse any pain. For those who oppose its use, it is an instrument of cruelty. Media framing is employed to unpack the discourses played out in print and social media in the UK (2011) and Australia (2009) during key periods of the whip debate foll...
Bertuglia A, Bullone M, Rossotto F, Gasparini M.There is a substantial paucity of studies concerning musculoskeletal injuries in harness Standardbred racehorses. Specifically, little is known about the epidemiology of exercise-related musculoskeletal injuries. Most studies on this subject involve Thoroughbred racehorses, whose biomechanics and racing speed differ from Standardbred, making comparisons difficult. Here, a population of Standardbred racehorses trained at the same racecourse was studied over four years and a classification system for exercise-related musculoskeletal injuries was designed. The incidence rates of musculoskeletal i...
Wylie CE, McManus P, McDonald C, Jorgensen S, McGreevy P.Monitoring racehorse fatality and associated jockey falls provides benchmarks for intervention strategies. The aims of this study were to describe the incidence of and reasons for fatalities in Thoroughbred horses during flat races in the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales (NSW), Australia, and to describe reported jockey falls and injuries associated with racehorse fatalities. A cohort study identified all racehorse fatalities reported through Racing NSW for the 2009-2010 to 2013-2014 racing seasons. Risks of racehorse fatality, fatal musculoskeletal injury, spontaneous death (a...
Tozaki T, Hill EW, Hirota K, Kakoi H, Gawahara H, Miyake T, Sugita S, Hasegawa T, Ishida N, Nakano Y, Kurosawa M.Using 1710 Thoroughbred racehorses in Japan, a cohort study was performed to evaluate the influence of genotypes at four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on equine chromosome 18 (ECA18), which were associated in a previous genome-wide association study for racing performance with lifetime earnings and performance rank. In males, both g.65809482T>C and g.65868604G>T were related to performance rank (P= 0.005). In females, g.65809482T>C (P = 1.76E-6), g.65868604G>T (P=6.81E-6) and g.66493737C>T (P=4.42E-5) were strongly related to performance rank and also to lifetime ...
Kiryu K, Machida N, Kashida Y, Yoshihara T, Amada A, Yamamoto T.Five racehorses in apparently normal condition succumbed to sudden cardiac death (SCD) during or shortly after intensive training exercise. Cardiopathologic examination was performed. In 1 of the 5 horses, the use of an electrocardiogram (ECG) recording taken continuously for 440 sec enabled us to analyze some of the arrhythmias in the terminal event of SCD. The ECG tracing exhibited the R-on-T phenomenon following a pair of ventricular premature contractions (VPCs). The phenomenon rapidly degenerated into ventricular fibrillation, which led to cardiac arrest. In all 5 horses cardiopathologic ...
Hill EW, Fonseca RG, McGivney BA, Gu J, MacHugh DE, Katz LM.Sequence variation at the equine myostatin gene (MSTN) locus has previously been shown to have a singular genomic influence on optimum race distance in Thoroughbred racehorses. Myostatin, encoded by the MSTN gene, is a member of the TGF-β superfamily that regulates skeletal muscle development in a range of mammalian species including the horse. In the Thoroughbred, the C-allele at the g.66493737C/T SNP has been found at significantly higher frequency in subgroups of the population that are suited to fast, short distance, sprint races and also influences body composition phenotypes. We investi...
Logan AA, Nielsen BD.Conflicting research and anecdotal evidence have created disagreement among equestrians as to whether two-year-old horses should be trained and raced. The objective of this literature review is to evaluate epidemiological studies, as well as physiological data on equine bone, articular cartilage, and tendons to better determine the impact of training and racing two-year-old horses. The evaluation of numerous studies on the topic provides evidence that a horse which is trained or raced as a two-year-old has a lower risk of injury and better adapted tissues for the rigors of racing. Unfortunatel...
Ohmura H, Hiraga A, Takahashi T, Kai M, Jones JH.To determine prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) immediately after racing among racehorses that finished well behind the winners and examine potential risk factors for AF in these horses. Methods: Case-control study. Methods: 39,302 racehorses representing 404,090 race starts in races sanctioned by the Japan Racing Association between 1988 and 1997. Methods: Horses that finished > or = 4 (turf races) or 5 (dirt races) seconds behind the winner or that did not complete the race were examined for AF within 5 minutes after the race. Logistic regression and chi2 analyses were used to determine ...
Thomason JJ, Peterson ML.The aim of this article is to review current knowledge of kinetic variables of the hoof-track interaction and track properties relevant to the objective of minimizing injuries to horses at racing tracks. In each phase of the stance--primary impact, secondary impact, support, and breakover, the hoof experiences different combinations of force and acceleration. The role of each combination, and of measured track properties, in causing catastrophic and chronic injuries to the limbs of racing horses is unknown. Limited data of this type have been provided in previous epidemiologic studies of risk ...
Dong HJ, Ho H, Hwang H, Kim Y, Han J, Lee I, Cho S.Equine gastric ulcer syndrome is one of the most frequently reported diseases in thoroughbred racehorses. Although several risk factors for the development of gastric ulcers have been widely studied, investigation of microbiological factors has been limited. In this study, the presence of Helicobacter spp. and the gastric microbial communities of thoroughbred racehorses having mild to severe gastric ulcers were investigated. Although Helicobacter spp. were not detected using culture and PCR techniques from 52 gastric biopsies and 52 fecal samples, the genomic sequences of H. pylori and H. ganm...
Gramm M, Marksteiner R.Using a dataset of 274 male Thoroughbred racehorses in the United States, we study the effect of age on racing performance. Beyer speed figures, which are uniform measures of racing performance across distance and racing surface, are utilized in this study. A system of equations is estimated to determine quadratic improvement and decline in racing performance. We find that a typical horse's peak racing age is 4.45 years. The rate of improvement from age 2 to 4 1/2 is greater than the rate of decline after age 4 1/2. A typical horse will improve by 10 (horse) lengths in sprints (less than 1 mil...
Sherman J, Thorsen J, Barnum DA, Mitchell WR, Ingram DG.Upper respiratory disease has been a serious problem in Standardbred horses on racetracks in Ontario, with outbreaks occurring once or twice annually in late winter and early spring seasons. To determine the causes of these epidemics, a 3-year investigation was carried out in which nasal swabs and serum samples were obtained at intervals from apparently healthy horses and from horses suffering from upper respiratory disease. The nasal swabs were used to isolate bacteria and viruses. The serum samples were examined for the presence and level of antibodies to equine influenza viruses and equine ...
Nostell K, Häggström J.To determine normal resting values for cardiac troponin I (cTnI) in healthy Standardbred, Thoroughbred and Warmblood horses and investigate if racing has an influence on cTnI concentrations. Background: Measuring cTnI concentrations in plasma is the gold standard for detecting myocardial injury in humans. Cardiac troponin I is highly conserved between species and has gained interest as a marker for cardiac injury in horses. Increased levels of cTnI have been reported in association with endurance and short-term strenuous exercise on a treadmill in horses. However, the effect of true racing con...
Sevinc F, Maden M, Kumas C, Sevinc M, Ekici OD.Blood and serum samples were taken from 481 horses, from a stud farm or a racecourse, and tested by microscopic examination of blood smears and cELISA for Theileria equi (T. equi) and Babesia caballi (B. caballi) infections. At the time of sampling, animals were also examined for tick infestations and clinical disease, which were not observed in any of the sampled horses. During the microscopic examination of thin blood smears, parasites were detected in the three horses from the racecourse. Overall seroprevalence of infection was detected as 18.50% (89 of 481 horses) by cELISA, with T. equi b...
Barrey E.Over the last 30 years, the increase in interest in horses for racing and riding activities has stimulated scientific research in equine locomotion. This paper presents a review of the measurement methods and their applications used to assess equine locomotion. After describing gaits and velocity-related changes in stride variables, the current applications of gait analysis are presented. The economic consequences of lameness justifies the great effort now being put into lameness quantification and prevention. To improve breeding and reduce the costs of training, early performance evaluation t...
Tozaki T, Ohnuma A, Kikuchi M, Ishige T, Kakoi H, Hirota KI, Kusano K, Nagata SI.Gene doping, an activity which abuses and misuses gene therapy, is a major concern in sports and horseracing industries. Effective methods capable of detecting and monitoring gene doping are urgently needed. Although several PCR-based methods that detect transgenes have been developed, many of them focus only on a single transgene. However, numerous genes associated with athletic ability may be potential gene-doping material. Here, we developed a detection method that targets multiple transgenes. We targeted 12 genes that may be associated with athletic performance and designed two TaqMan prob...
